For all those students sluggishly going about their school

routines after returning from spring break paradise, soy foods

may give the boost needed to get through the days until summer

approaches.

Lynn Sieck, a graduate assistant for the Nutrition

Education Resource and Referral Center, said that foods made

with soy may provide the protein students need to get back on

their feet.

Tonight at 7 p.m. in Klehm Hall Room 206, Julie Dostal

from the Illinois Soybean Association will be speaking on the

benefits of soy foods and showing students how to prepare soy

meals. The workshop is co-sponsored by the Nutrition Education

Resource and Referral Center, the Health Education Resource

Center and the school of family and consumer sciences.

“The workshop is hands-on and it’s free,” Sieck said.

“Students will actually be cooking and they will experience the

different types of soy foods.”

Foods that Dostal will show students how to prepare from

soy include salisbury steak, tacos, peanut butter cookies,

bread, milk and lunch meats, Sieck said.

Incorporating soy into daily diets can result in a lower

risk of heart disease, Sieck said. Soy foods also can reduce

the risk of breast cancer in women and it can also lessen

menopausal symptoms.

Soy has also been shown to lower the risk of all types of

cancer. “(Soy foods) are also a great source of protein in

general and also for those who are vegetarians,” Sieck said.

She said that she hopes the students who attend the

workshop learn how to make non-meat choices in their diets to

help increase their health and she hopes they will become aware

of how many different soy products are out there.

“I hope that students can learn how to incorporate (soy

foods) into their diets,” Sieck said.